1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to peptides which exhibit hepcidin activity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hepcidin, a peptide hormone produced by the liver, is a regulator of iron homeostasis in humans and other mammals. Hepcidin acts by binding to its receptor, the iron export channel ferroportin, and causing its internalization and degradation. Human hepcidin is a 25-amino acid peptide (Hep25). See Krause et al. (2000) FEBS Lett 480:147-150, and Park et al. (2001) J Biol Chem 276:7806-7810. The structure of the bioactive 25-amino acid form of hepcidin is a simple hairpin with 8 cysteines that form 4 disulfide bonds as described by Jordan et al. (2009) J Biol Chem 284:24155-67. The N terminal region is required for iron-regulatory function, and deletion of 5 N-terminal amino acid residues results in a loss of iron-regulatory function. See Nemeth et al. (2006) Blood 107:328-33.
Abnormal hepcidin activity is associated with iron overload diseases which include hereditary hemochromatosis and iron-loading anemias. Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a genetic iron overload disease that is mainly caused by hepcidin deficiency, or very rarely by hepcidin resistance. This allows excessive absorption of iron from the diet and development of iron overload. Clinical manifestations of HH may include liver disease (hepatic cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma), diabetes, and heart failure. Currently, the only treatment for HH is regular phlebotomy, which is effective but very burdensome for the patients.
Iron-loading anemias are hereditary anemias with ineffective erythropoiesis such as β-thalassemia, which are accompanied by severe iron overload. Complications from iron overload are the main cause of morbidity and mortality for these patients. Hepcidin deficiency is the main cause of iron overload in untransfused patients, and contributes to iron overload in transfused patients. The current treatment for iron overload in these patients is iron chelation which is very burdensome, sometimes ineffective and accompanied by frequent side effects.